South India · Karnataka
Tumakuru, Karnataka
About Tumakuru
- Inland
Where it is
Tumakuru, formerly Tumkur, is a city in southern Karnataka about 70 km north-west of Bengaluru, on the Deccan plateau at around 800 m, among rocky hills such as Devarayanadurga.
History
The name is traditionally linked to the thumbe flower or to the thamate drum. The area was ruled by the Western Gangas, Cholas and Vijayanagara before joining the Kingdom of Mysore, and the city took the name Tumakuru in 2014. In recent years it has grown into an industrial satellite of Bengaluru.
People
Kannada is the main language, with Urdu, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi also spoken. The countryside grows coconut, areca nut, ragi and groundnut, and the Siddaganga Math, a monastery that houses and educates more than 9,000 children free of charge, is central to local life.
Known for
- Siddaganga Math
- Devarayanadurga hill temples and forest
- Madhugiri's hilltop fort
- Coconuts and areca nut
- HAL's helicopter factory near Gubbi
Did you know?
Madhugiri, in Tumakuru district, is crowned by a Vijayanagara-era fort on what is often described as one of the largest monolithic hills in Asia.
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